Originally Posted by
vsevolod4
A few points not necessarily in order of importance:
Is it "blackouting" or is it "blacking-out?" I'd favor the latter construction, but then again, I'm one of those fuddy-duddies who says HARE-...-ment instead of Hair-...-ment, correctly prounounces forte (as in strength) "FORT" and not "For-tay" (as in piano), and believes the plural of "time out" should be "times out" and not "time outs."
Yes, it does appear that they have limited inventory and are reserving the remaining rooms for people on longer stays. Does not hurt to try calling the 800 number or, better, calling the hotel reservations directly. (I've talked to some very helpful Barclay reservationists about my last stay, and they took care of things above and beyond, as usual).
This is one of those cases where the "Guaranteed room availability for one room occupied by the Royal Ambassador with 24-hour advance reservation. Reservations must be made before 12:00 midday (local hotel time) 24 hours prior to intended arrival for room availability to be guaranteed" benefit for RAs comes in handy.
There is a difference between a black out date and a minimum legnth of stay. Most hotel companies usually give the propertys about 50 days in a calender year to black out. Black out dates block discounts, so the hotel is selling the highest rate. They can put in a minimum legnth of stay when ever they want but you will get the discounted rate, you can get a combination of the two as well. So you have to stay two nights at the peak rate